Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
I was asked by a couple of members, who posted generous comments in a recent series of double exposure self-portraits I uploaded into the gallery, what my method was and could I put it in a post.
As with a lot of these rather bizarre spontaneous self-portraits that I do the process is not always clear to me and often doesn’t pan out the way I expect. The motivation came from accidentally shooting a double exposure a week or so ago with my 1933 Voigtlander Brilliant … a very primitive little scale focus TLR that relies on the user being astute enough to remember if they’ve advanced the film before re-cocking the shutter and taking the next shot.
The comedy of errors that produced the end results goes as follows:
Wake up in the morning only able to think about one thing … multiple exposure self-portraits! A quick coffee and cigarette then down to my little shed in the trees where I develop my film. The only camera I seem to have with the ability to do multiple exposures and with a ten second self timer is the RF645 Bronica … so that goes with me along with a tripod! (The RF645 has two buttons on the back that offer these functions … one marked ME and the other with the self timer symbol)
Quickly thaw out a lone roll of Kodak PXP 120 which is god knows how old and has been in the freezer for a year or so since it came with some film I exchanged for 35mm BW400CN with another member in the US.
From here on the actual shooting process becomes a little hazy … I shoot up against some old dark maroon drapes that form the light proof enclosure for film loading etc in the corner of the room … the spot gets reasonable light from a window but it’s very overcast outside and even at 1/8 sec I’ve managed to unknowingly under-expose by at least a stop and probably two. I don’t really understand why I do the things I do in front of the camera and at the time there seems little pattern or method to it … there is very little pre-visualisation or planning! I do have bits of string with bits of tape on them hanging from the low ceiling and marks on the floor that indicate the focus point and framing borders of the camera … roughly! The Bronica’s self timer gives me ten seconds to get into position and the whole roll (sixteen frames) is gone in about thirty minutes or so of this mayhem.
When I develop the film I fly blind again and decide to try semi-stand developing in Rodinal for thirty minutes at 1+100 which I’ve never done with Kodak Plus X before and in my haste to see what’s on the film I rush and unknowingly (and stupidly) use the solution quantity for 35mm film and not 120 in the Paterson tank. After fixing and washing I remove the film from the tank to hang it and I’m gob smacked … due to underexposing and underdeveloping the negative is almost totally transparent not to mention the completely undeveloped wide strip on the top due to under filling the tank. At this stage I’m kind of dejected and go off to eat worms in the garden while the film dries.
Later as I scan the film my faith in medium format and film generally is re-affirmed as I remember that what can appear to be a very clear negative will often have an unexpected amount of information in it and scan surprisingly well … the images are dark but I don’t mind. As a result of my major developing blunder the top part of each frame doesn’t actually exist so I’m forced to crop them back to a square format in post which actually benefits them but probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t cocked up the developing in the first place and been forced to do so!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So to anyone who though there was any real technical skill in these images … sorry!
As with a lot of these rather bizarre spontaneous self-portraits that I do the process is not always clear to me and often doesn’t pan out the way I expect. The motivation came from accidentally shooting a double exposure a week or so ago with my 1933 Voigtlander Brilliant … a very primitive little scale focus TLR that relies on the user being astute enough to remember if they’ve advanced the film before re-cocking the shutter and taking the next shot.
The comedy of errors that produced the end results goes as follows:
Wake up in the morning only able to think about one thing … multiple exposure self-portraits! A quick coffee and cigarette then down to my little shed in the trees where I develop my film. The only camera I seem to have with the ability to do multiple exposures and with a ten second self timer is the RF645 Bronica … so that goes with me along with a tripod! (The RF645 has two buttons on the back that offer these functions … one marked ME and the other with the self timer symbol)
Quickly thaw out a lone roll of Kodak PXP 120 which is god knows how old and has been in the freezer for a year or so since it came with some film I exchanged for 35mm BW400CN with another member in the US.
From here on the actual shooting process becomes a little hazy … I shoot up against some old dark maroon drapes that form the light proof enclosure for film loading etc in the corner of the room … the spot gets reasonable light from a window but it’s very overcast outside and even at 1/8 sec I’ve managed to unknowingly under-expose by at least a stop and probably two. I don’t really understand why I do the things I do in front of the camera and at the time there seems little pattern or method to it … there is very little pre-visualisation or planning! I do have bits of string with bits of tape on them hanging from the low ceiling and marks on the floor that indicate the focus point and framing borders of the camera … roughly! The Bronica’s self timer gives me ten seconds to get into position and the whole roll (sixteen frames) is gone in about thirty minutes or so of this mayhem.
When I develop the film I fly blind again and decide to try semi-stand developing in Rodinal for thirty minutes at 1+100 which I’ve never done with Kodak Plus X before and in my haste to see what’s on the film I rush and unknowingly (and stupidly) use the solution quantity for 35mm film and not 120 in the Paterson tank. After fixing and washing I remove the film from the tank to hang it and I’m gob smacked … due to underexposing and underdeveloping the negative is almost totally transparent not to mention the completely undeveloped wide strip on the top due to under filling the tank. At this stage I’m kind of dejected and go off to eat worms in the garden while the film dries.
Later as I scan the film my faith in medium format and film generally is re-affirmed as I remember that what can appear to be a very clear negative will often have an unexpected amount of information in it and scan surprisingly well … the images are dark but I don’t mind. As a result of my major developing blunder the top part of each frame doesn’t actually exist so I’m forced to crop them back to a square format in post which actually benefits them but probably wouldn’t have happened if I hadn’t cocked up the developing in the first place and been forced to do so!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
So to anyone who though there was any real technical skill in these images … sorry!
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leica M2 fan
Veteran
I'm ROTFLMAO still, if the picture I posted in Gallery Picks is part of your mayhem as described above then I'm all for trying to recreate these errors. Just a little secret, I've never give a 10 in the gallery but this one ALMOST got a 10! Thanks for your "explanation".
Wayno
Well-known
That's a cool set Keith. I like 1, 4 & 5 the best. Often the best stuff seems to come about when we just do something without thinking about it too much.
bucks11
Established
For such a spontaneous move I found your series very intriguing. I think it's my favorite I've seen in a while, double exposures just brighten my day...
photogdave
Shops local
This is how the best art is always created - a combination of accident and instinct!
Tuolumne
Veteran
ishpop
tall person
A couple of Japanese Photogs I follow on Flickr have been doing some double 6X6 photos as of late, mostly a portrait mixed with a scene of some kind.
I am really digging it!
I am really digging it!
zenlibra
Crazy Leica Fox
Keith, are these the 8 shots in your zenfolio gallery also? Very nice work, I like them very much. 4 and 7 have a "picasso" feel to them. Very creative work.
Keith
The best camera is one that still works!
Thanks a lot ... that's them and since that set I've become somewhat intrigued with the whole multiple exposure concept and intend taking it to it's limit ... until I become bored with it perhaps!
The 'Picasso' comment interests me because when I first looked at a couple of the images the same thing crossed my mind ... there's is a certain fractured look that wasn't deliberately aimed for but I'm happy with it none the less!